Movie review: Away We Go -- 4 out of 5 stars

'Away We Go'

François Duhamel / Focus Features

OVERRATED 'Quirky' indie films: The eccentric has been a cinematic staple as long as we can remember, but we're asking for a timeout after Sam Mendes' "Away We Go." We love John Krasinski and Maya Rudolph, but surrounded by such a rogue's gallery of weirdos, we barely had room to breathe, much...

OVERRATED 'Quirky' indie films: The eccentric has been a cinematic staple as long as we can remember, but we're asking for a timeout after Sam Mendes' "Away We Go." We love John Krasinski and Maya Rudolph, but surrounded by such a rogue's gallery of weirdos, we barely had room to breathe, much... (François Duhamel / Focus Features)

There's a sly subversion to Away We Go, the Sam Mendes (American Beauty) road comedy written by novelists Dave Eggers and Vendela Vida. Burt (John Krasinski, funny and sweet) and Verona (Maya Rudolph, droll and sentimental) make comically uneasy tour guides through an America of liberal parenting and a "Me Generation" run amok. With each city they visit, each family they catch up with, they find more behaviors to avoid, more reasons to add responsibility to lives that haven't had a lot up until now.

Her parents are dead, but his (the hysterical Jeff Daniels and Catherine O'Hara) are the first clue.

"We're moving to Belgium!"

No thought about the grandkid-to-be. "It's ALWAYS been OUR dream!"

Burt and Verona travel to Arizona, where her former colleague (Allison Janney, a stitch) shows off the boozy, laissez-faire parenting model. "Away to Madison," Wisconsin, where Burt's friend Ellen (Maggie Gyllenhaal) has changed her name to "LN" and dabbles in a "continuum home" (everybody in the same bed) with a "No separation, no sugar, no strollers" ethos.

But there are poignant moments mixed with the wacky, a sadness that underlies the sprawling, multi-ethnic family of friends in Montreal, a brother in Miami whose wife left him with a daughter, sure that this selfish act means she'll "never fit in."

Krasinski (The Office) and Rudolph (formerly of Saturday Night Live) make a complementary couple. He gets the big comic meltdown, she delivers the wistful touches.

The writers aren't bound to any road comedy conventions, nor are they shy about flipping their satiric comedy end over end in its wise and warm third act. It's a bit broad, and some of the changes in tone can seem abrupt. But Away We Go makes a nice metaphor for a rootless, self-involved culture of parents trying to get it right and getting all the wrong advice as they do.

As they await the birth of their baby, a couple travel across America in search of the perfect place to raise their family. During their journey, they share assorted misadventures and reconnect with old friends and relatives. The experiences and people they encounter help them define the word...

He isn't married. Not yet, though dating the gorgeous Emily Blunt could give a fellow ideas. And John Krasinski isn't a parent. So The Office star was in a bit over his head in the new Sam Mendes road comedy, Away We Go.